Earth cutting, digging, and moving machine



Sept. 27, 19-38. E. A. FOSTER EARTH CUTTING, DIGGING, AND MOVING MACHINEFiled March 24, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

A TTORNESI Sept. 27, 1938. g, A, FOST R 2,131,373 k EARTH CUTTING,DIGGING, AND MOVING MACHINE Filed March 24, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2ATTORNEY.

, Sept. 27,1938. E. A. FOSTER EARTH CUTTING, DIGGING, AND MOVINGMAQI-XINE FiledMarch 24, 1937 3 Sheetg-Sheot 3 INVENTORI W mm ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES- CUTTING, DIGGING, AND MOVINGMACHINE Ernest A. Foster, Mantcca, Calii'. Application March 24, 1937,Serial No. 132,783 v 11 Claims. (01. 37-108) Thisinvention relates toroad building machines, and especially to that type known as bulldozers.

.the tractor, but even A bulldozer generally consists of a heavy steelblade about seven feet wide and thirty inches high which is disposed infront of a tractor of the self-laying track type. The blade is supportedby heavy beams and braces from the main frame of so the braces will bendor break when large-roots and rocks are encountered. Besides that, muchtime is lost in backing, swerving, 'etc., as when the tractor movesahead and scrapes and gathers a pile of dirt the operator must swervethe tractor to one side or another to'push the dirt off the road. Hemust then back up the tractor and straighten it out before he can againgo ahead to scrape up another pile. All this maneuvering to scrape upand remove a pile of dirt takes up so much time that the capacity of themachine as a whole is very limited.

The object of the present invention is to generally improve theconstruction and operation of machines of this character; to provide acutter blade which reciprocates laterally in the manner of a saw whilethe tractor is advancing: to provide a cutter blade on which is mounteda series ofteeth whichcut both in a forward and in a lateral directionas the tractor advances; to provide a drive whereby reciprocal orlateral-movement is transmitted to the cutter blade and teeth; toprovide a laterally extending conveyor.

whereby dirt and rocks loosened by the blade and teeth may be dischargedto one side or another of the road which is being worked on; to

provide means for transferring or-elevatlng the i the cutter bladetoloosened dirt or rocks from the conveyor; to provide a novel method oftransmitting power from the power take-oft shaft .of the tractor to thecutter blade and the conveyor in unison; to provide means for raising orlowering the cutting and earth conveying mechanism,

and further, to provide means for taking up both end and lateral thrustexerted'by the cutting and conveying mechanism with relation to the mainframe of the tractor.

The invention is shown by way of illustration l Fig. 4 is a Perspectiveview of one of the cutter teeth: v

Fig. 5 is a front view of the cutting and elevating portion of themachine, said view being partially broken away; and 5 Fig. ,6 is aperspective view of a portion of the cutter blade and teeth, said viewshowing the manner in whichthe blade and teeth are supported and guidedwith relation to the frame supporting the same. I

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figs.- 1 and 3A indicates in general the main frame 'of' a tractor of'the self-layingtrack t pe. B- the engine, C the power take-on shaft, and D-D the tracksupon which the tracisa shaft 1 on the outer ends of which are securedbeveled'gears 8 and 9. Substantially centrally ofthe shaft are looselymounted beveled gears i0 and II' which intermesh with a beveled gear I!secured on the power take-oil shaft. Between the gears I 0 and II isasplined clutch member l3 operated by means of a lever l4, and formed onthe faces of the gears I0 and II are cooperative clutch members, eitherof which may be engaged depending upon the direction in which shaft 1 isto be rotated.

Supporting the tubular housings 5 and 6 at their :extreme outer ends arebearing brackets 3a and 4a, and disposed between the bearings 3a and 4aand the adjacent bearings 3 and 4 are bearing sleeves I 5' and i6 which,through means of angle arms IT, support bearing sleeves l8 and l9.Secured in the sleeves l8 and I9 are tubular 2| and the bearings l8 andI9, is free to pivot about the tubular housings 5 and 6 so as to permitthe earth cutting, elevating and conveying mechanism to be raised andlowered with relation to the tractor as will hereinafter be described,-the tubular housings Ill and 2|, in other words v acting as side armsfor the frame to permit raising and lowering thereof and at the sametime functioning as housings for the drive shafts extending therethrougThe cross frame 22 has secured to its lower face forwardly extendingchannel bars 23 which.

terminate in their m- 5;

ward ends in skid arms or shoes 24. The channel bars are extendedrearwardly toward the tractor as shown at 2311 and are there securedwith relation to the tubular housings 20 and 2| by means of sleeves 25.This forms a rigid connection between the tubular housings "and 2|, thecross frame 22, and the forwardly extending channel bars 23. The bars 23and the shoes or skids 24 disposed in front thereof may be formedintegral or in separate pieces secured with relation to each other, thisbeing of little impor tance as it is merely a structural detail. Thetubular housings 20 and 2| are extended some distance forward of thebearing sleeves 20a and 2|a and their extreme forward ends are securedin bearing brackets 21. The tubular housing 20 forms a housing andbearing for an inner shaft 20b whichis driven from shaft 1 by a beveledgear 8a which meshes with the beveled gear 8. The tubular housing 2|similarly forms a housing and bearing for a shaft 2|b which is drivencrank is formed on the outer end of a shaft 41 which is driven fromshaft 2|b through means of sprockets and a chain 48. In other words,when power is transmitted to shaft 2|b it will also be transmittedthrough the chain 48 to shaft 41, and as this shaft carries a crank 46on its outer end which extends through the yoke 45, a reciprocal motionwill be transmitted to the yoke and the bars 44 to which it is attached.These bars are in turn secured to the arms 39, and as they are securedto the cutter blade 30, reciprocal or lateral movement will betransmitted thereto. The bars 43 really function as guides for the bars44 and so do' the cross bars indicated at 43a; in fact the same may besaid of the angle 15 braces indicated at 49, as they are notched topermit the bars 43 and 44 to pass therethrough.

These angle bars are secured not only to the base plate 32 but also to aback plate 32a. A

suitable number of angle plates are provided 20 and end plates such asshown at 50 of similar from the shaft 1 by means of a beveled gear 9a.

meshing with the beveled gear 9. The shaft 2|b transmits power to acutter blade generally indicated at 30, while the shaft 20b transmitspower to a laterally extendingendless conveyor 3|. The cutter blade 30is best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6. It is disposed at the forward endof the shoes 24 and is partially supported by said shoes and by a baseplate 32. The cutter blade has a length equal to the width of themachine and its forward edge is provided with a series.

of notches .34 (see Fig. 6) and in these notches are inserted teeth 35(see Figs. 4 and 6). Each tooth is provided with a base flange 36 whichextends in under the cutter blade. These flanges provide means wherebythe teeth are secured to the blade and they also serve the purpose ofcutting away the earth in front of the shoes 24 thus preventing thefront ends of the shoes from catching in rocks or roots. The teeth alsohave a raised portion 31 to flt the notches 34. The base flange isriveted to the cutter blade while the raised portion 31 receives aclamping bar 38 which extends from end to end of the cutter blade. Eachtooth is raised as shown at 35a and a shoulder is formed behind theraised portion to receive the clamping bar. This raised portion isimportant as it cuts away the soil to form a clear path for the clampingbar. Secured to the cutter blade and disposed at right angles theretoand extending rearwardly over the top surface of the base plate 32 are aseries ofarms 39. Similarly secured to the top surface of the base plateand in a position parallel to the arms 39 are arms 40. Thesearms extendover the cutter blade and bolts pass therethrough which are secured inthe shoes 24 disposed below them, the attaching bolts being shown at 4|.In view of the fact that a reciprocal motion is transmitted to thecutter blade when the machine is in shape are also employed. Theseplates, to gether with the angle plates 49, form a support for adeflector plate 5| which deflects and elevates material cut or loosenedby the cutter blade or the teeth 35 to the conveyor belt 3|. By referbetransmitted ring to Fig. 2 it will be noted that the front edge of theplate 5| is disposed behind the clamping bar 38, the forward or leadingedge of the deflector plate is thus protected and relieved of 30 unduestress. At each end of the deflector plate are end deflectors 5|a toprevent the soil from sliding off the ends. The conveyer belt, aspreviously stated, extends crosswise of the frame and is supported bypulleys or rollers iournaled at op- 35 posite ends of the frame. Theconveyor is driven from shaft 20b by a belt or preferably a chain driveas indicated at dotted lines 54 (seeFig.5) ,and in order to preventslipping, a second drive may to the opposite pulley of the conveyor bymeans of a chain 55. All dirt elevated 'by plate 5| will be received bythe conveyor and operation, slots 42 must be formed in the cutter bladeto clear the bolts 4|. The arms 33 and 40 alternate, the arms 40 beingthe stationary arms and the arms 39 the movable arms as they areattached to and move with the cutter blade; in

fact they are the arms by which reciprocal movement is transmitted tothe cutter blade; and this is accomplished as follows: Secured to thestationary arms 40 are a pair; of. transversely extending guide bars.43. Disposed between said bars are a'pair' of bars 44. These bars aresecured to the arms 39 and. reciprocal movement is transmitted to thebars 44 by means of a yoke 45 and a crank 46 extending therethrough.This as such will be transferred and discharged at one side or anotheras the machine advances, it being possible to drive the conveyor 3| ineither 45 direction depending upon which side the dirt is to bedischarged by merely throwing the clutch V I to one side or another. Theend and lateral thrust produced when a machine of this character'isadvancing and cutting is ratherheavy, and it is accordingly importantthat the tubular housings 20 and 2| and the shafts extendingtherethrough be relieved of this thrust as much as possible. This isaccomplished in the present instance by placing thrust plates at eachfront corner of the machine as indicated at 60 and 3|. These thrustplates have vertical inner faces and curved outer faces as indicated at62, the curve of the outer faces being struck from the pivotal point ofthe shaft 6. These curved outer faces take or absorb the end thrustproduced, as the cross frame 22 is provided with adjustable shoes 63which engage these faces. The lateral thrust is taken care ofby*adjustable shoes 64 also carried by the cross frame 22. These shoesengage the inner vertical surfaces and all lateral motion is thus takenup. I

To raise and lower the digging, elevating and earth conveying mechanism,a pair of cylindersis placed on the tractor as indicated at 10. Thesecylinders are connected with links II and bellcranks 12. "I'hese'are inturn connected through links 13 with the cross framer22. The cylindersare hydraulically actuated with a valve control 15 extent upon the Inactual operation the tractor will move slowly in a forward direction,and as it does so, reciprocal movement is imparted to the cutter blade'30 and the teeth attached thereto. This reciprocal motion iscomparatively rapid and the stroke short. The blade thus acts as'a sawand rapidly cuts its way through the soil. If roots and rocks areencountered, they are readily cut on and dislodged. At the same time asthe machine advances the loosened material will pile up on the plate 5iand will gradually work upwardly over the plate and is thus elevated anddelivered to the conveyor 3i which in turn transfers and discharges itto one side of the machine. The cutting teeth 35 are sharpened both attheir sides and at their forward point, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, andas such will readily cut roots and shatter and loosen rock-impregnatedsoil pro-' viding the rocks are not too large:

A machine constructed and operated in the manner described will have avery large capacity,

as no time is lost in' backing,-swerving, etc. All progress is in aforward direction, and soil is being continuously cut, elevated anddischarged;

in fact, the capacity is so muchgreater than that obtained by ordinarybulldozers that a compari son is hard to make. The depth of cut made asthe tractor advances will depend to a great main motor of the tractorand is taken from the power take-off shaft, and hence there is an amplegears and shafts through which the pc wer is transmitted are relieved ofpower supply. As the all end and lateral thrusts, power may beetliciently transmitted. The swivel connection formed by the bearings 15and I6 and I! and i9 ensures continuous meshing of the beveled gearsregardless of the position of the digging mechanism. The cutter bladecan be inade as heavy as conditions may demand, and as it is covered bythe deflector plate 5|, protection is provided against the entrance ofdust and dirt and as such permits ample lubrication of the reciprocalparts. I The' construction provided permits transmission of power to thecutter blade by means of a chain drive as shown at 48, and it permitsthe use of a flywheel 80 on the crank shaft. This is important, as theflywheel tends to :carry through the reciprocal inotions of the outerblade ,where sudden resistance is encountered,

and the chain takes up back lash, thereby reducing wear, and. tear onthe beveled gears through which the power is transmitted. Thetransmission of power from the crank to the cutter blade is at thecenter point thereof, thus eliminating any tendency to buckle or bendthe cutter blade. The center drive furthermore'distributes pressure andweight evenly over the base plate and thereby insure uniform wear. Theskids or shoes indicated at 24 not only function as a support for'th'ecutting mechanism when in operation, but they also aid in taking uplateral thrust as they have a tendency to cut into and form furrows inthe ground through which they are advancing.

driver or operator, the

ployed may'be such as v decide, or varying conditions or uses may de- 102. The combination with a tractor having a character or formation of theThis, together with the invention have been more orlessspeciflcallydescribed and illustrated, I wishitunderstood that 5various changes may be resorted to within the scope ofthe appendedclaims, and'similarly, that the material and finish of the several partscmthe manufacturer may mand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimand desire to secure byLetters Patent is- 1. The combination with a tractor of a frame disposedin front of the tractor, a pair of side,l5

arms on the frame, one on each side of the tractor, a pivotal connectionformed between the rear ends of said arms and the tractor, means on thetractor for raising or lowering the forward end of the frame withrelation to the tractor, a cutter blade disposed transversely of theframe and at the front thereof and mounted for reciprocal movement, andmeans for reciprocating thecutter blade while the tractor advances.

power take-off shaft of a frame disposed in front of the tractor, a pairof side arms on the frame, one on each side of the tractor, a. pivotalconnection formed between the rear ends of said arms and the tractor,means on the tractor for raising or lowering the forward end of theframe with relation to the tractor, a cutter blade disposed transverselyof the frame and at the front thereof and mounted for reciprocalmovement, a shaft journaled on one of said mitting power from the powertake-off shaft of the tractor to said shaft, and means for trans-'mitting power from the shaft on the side arm to reciprocate the cutterblade.

3. The combination with a tractor having a power take-off shaft of aframe disposed in front of the tractor, a pair of side arms on theframe, one on each side of the tractor, a pivotal connection formedbetween the rear ends of said arms and the tractor, means on the tractorfor raising or lowering the forwardend of the frame with relation to thetractor, acutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and at thefront thereof and mounted for reciprocal movement, a conveyor.

sposed transversely of the frame behind the cutter blade, a transverseshaft .on the tractor, means for transmittingpower fromthe powertake-01f shaftto the transverse shaft, apair of longitudinally extendingshafts, one on each side arm and driven by the transverse shaft, meansfor transmitting power from one longitudinal shaft to drive theconveyor, and means for transmitting power. from the other longitudinalshaft to reciprocate the cutter blade.

4. Thecombination'with a tractor having a power take-oil shaft of'aframe disposed in front of the tractor, a pair of side arms on theframe, one on each sideof the tractor,;a pivotal connection formedbetween the rear ends of said arms and the tractor, means on the tractorfor raising or lowering the forward endof the frame with relation to thetractor, a cutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and at thefront.

thereof and mounted'for reciprocal movement, 7

a conveyor disposed transversely of the frame behind the cutter blade, atransverse shaft on the tractor, means for transmitting Power fromthe'power take-oil shaft to the transverse shaft, a pairoflongitudinally extending shafts, oneon 1 arms, means fortranseach sidearm and driven by the transverse shaft, means for transmitting powerfrom one longitudinal shaft to drive the conveyor, means fortransmitting power from the other longitudinal shaft to reciprocate thecutter blade, and an inclined plate on the frame between the cutterblade and the conveyor to-carry dirt from the cutter blade to theconveyor.

5. The combination with a tractor having a power take-off shaft of aframe disposed in front of the tractor, a pair of side arms on theframe, one on each sideof the tractor, a pivotal connection formedbetween the rear ends of said arms and the tractor, meanson the tractorfor raising or lowering the forward end of the frame with relation tothe tractor, a cutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and atthe front thereof and mounted for reciprocal movement, a conveyordisposed transversely of the frame behind the cutter blade, a transverseshaft on the tractor, means for transmitting power from the powertake-off shaft to the transverse shaft, a pair of longitudinallyextending shafts, one on each side arm and driven by the transverseshaft, means for transmitting power from one longitudinal shaft to drivethe conveyor, means for transmitting power from the other longitudinalshaft to reciprocate the cutter blade, an inclined plate on the framebetween the cutter blade and the conveyor to carry dirt from the cutterblade to the conveyor, and means for reversing the direction of theconveyor to discharge dirt at either side of the frame.

6. The combination with a tractor having a power take-ofi shaft of aframe disposed in front of the tractor, a pair of side arms on theframe, one on each side of the tractor, a pivotal connection formedbetween the rear ends of said arms and the tractor, means on the tractorfor raising or lowering the forward end of the frame with relation tothe tractor, a cutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and atthe front thereof and mounted for reciprocal movement, a conveyordisposed transversely of the frame behind the cutter blade, a transverseshaft on the base plate the tractor, means for transmitting power fromthe power take-off shaft to the transverse shaft, a pair oflongitudinally extending shafts, one on each side arm and driven by thetransverse shaft, means for transmitting power from one longitudinalshaft to drive the conveyor, means for transmitting power from the otherlongitudinal shaft to reciprocate the cutter blade, a pair of thrustplates on the front end of the tractor, and means on the frame andengageable with the thrust plates to take up thrust of the cutter bladeadvancing.

7. The combination with a tractor of a frame disposed in front thereof,means supporting the rear end of the frame with relation to the tractor,shoes on the frame supporting the front end of the frame, a base plateon said shoes, a cutter blade reciprocally mounted in front of and alsosupported by the shoes, means on the base plate securing the cutterblade when the tractor is against vertical movement with relation to theshoes and the base'plate, arms on the cutter endwise and lateral bladeextending rearwardly over the base plate, a common bar connecting saidarms, and means for transmitting a reciprocal movement to the commonbar, the arms and the cutter blade secured thereto.

8. The combination with a tractor of a frame disposed in front thereof,means supporting the rear end of the frame with relation to the tractor,shoes on the frame supporting the front end of the frame, a base plateon said shoes, a cutter blade reciprocally mounted in front of the baseplate and also supported by the shoes, means on the base plate securingthe cutter blade against vertical movement with relation to the shoesand the base plate, arms on the cutter'blade extending rearwardly overthe base plate, a common bar connecting said arms, and means fortransmitting a reciprocal movement to the common bar, the arms and thecutter blade secured thereto, said means comprising a crank shaft and ayoke on the common bar through which the crank extends.

9. The combination with a tractor of a frame disposed in front of thetractor, a pair of side arms on the frame, one on each side of thetractor, a pivotal connection. formed between the rear ends of said arms.and the tractor, means on the tractor for raising or lowering theforward end of the frame with relation to the tractor, a cutter bladedisposed transversely of the frame and at the front end thereof andmounted for reciprocal movement, means for reciprocating the cutterblade while the tractor advances, a conveyor disposed transversely ofthe frame behind the cutter blade, and means for transmitting power fromthe tractor to reciprocate the cutter blade and drive the conveyor.

10. The combination with a tractor of a frame disposed in front thereof,a cutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and at the frontthereof, teeth secured to the blade, means for transmitting a reciprocalmovement to the blade while the tractor advances, an inclined platecarried by the frame and disposed behind the cutter blade to gather andelevate material cut by the blade during advance of the tractor, arecessed shoulder formed behind each tooth, a cross bar seated on saidshoulders and secured thereto, said cross bar extending in front of thelower end of the inclined plate and forming a guard to prevent materialfrom passing in under the inclined plate.

11. The combination with a tractor of a; frame disposed in frontthereof, a cutter blade disposed transversely of the frame and at thefront thereof, teeth secured to the blade, means for transmitting areciprocal movement to the blade while the tractor advances, skidmembers below the frame and forming a support for the frame while it isbeing advanced by the tractor, th e forward ends of'said skid membersalso forming a support for the cutter blade, and a downwardly andrearwardly extending base flange on each tooth, said base flanges beingdisposed in front of the skid members and forming guards to preventmaterial from entering between the skid members and the cutter blade.

ERNEST A. FOSTER.

